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The high cost of competing in
Formula One is creating difficulties
for sauber, with team principal
Monisha Kaltenborn (right) admitting
the swiss team is in financial trouble,
one of seven of the sport’s 11 teams
in a similar situation.
“It is true, we are in trouble presently,”
Kaltenborn told German tabloid Bild.
“But we will get out of it again.”
Finances are making for a sticky
situation in Formula One. The spiralling
costs of competing in the sport have
been a major worry for teams since the
manufacturer exodus at the end of 2009,
while the 2014 engine specification
change, an increase in entry fees, and
the controlled return of in-season testing
are complicating matters further.
To make matters worse, while the
sport itself has seen several blue chip
sponsors join its ranks, high profile
deals with the likes of Emirates and
Rolex have gone to the Formula One
brand, and not to individual teams. The
promoter is able to offer sponsors a
better return on their investment with
guaranteed brand exposure via trackside
signage, making FOM a more attractive
prospect than the teams.
As a result, individual deals are harder
to come by, and slower to negotiate.
Kaltenborn told Swiss newspaper
Blick that the team is currently in talks
with a major sponsor believed to be
Russia’s Gazprom. “We have been
in negotiation for some time with a
potential partner,” she said. “The whole
thing is taking more time than we
thought it would, but we are on track.
We are currently going through a difficult
phase, but we will continue in 2013 to
the end.”
On Thursday, Sauber driver Nico
Hulkenberg – who is rumoured to be
waiting for some of his wages to be
back-paid – admitted the team was
going through a difficult time.
“I think it’s a difficult situation,”
Hulkenberg said, “like Monisha told the
press yesterday. But I think she and the
team and the management are working
on a solution and trying to work a way
out of it, to get better things. She’s
assured me that she’s busy working on
that and there’s not much more I can
say.”
After a strong campaign last year
that saw the team score four podiums,
Sauber’s 2013 contender has proven to
be uncompetitive, giving the team just
six points from the first eight races of
the year.
Sauber currently lies eighth in the
constructors’ championship, having
finished only three races in the points
this year. The team was dealt a further
blow at Silverstone when it emerged
that chief designer Matt Morris would
be jumping ship to McLaren.
SOBERING TIMES
AT SAUBER
F1 >>> nEWs
7
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